By Geoff Martin, canada.com  Friday, January 27, 2006

Canada’s largest privately owned record label — which represents such homegrown successes as Avril Lavigne, the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan — has joined one Texas family’s fight against the Recording Industry Association of America. Vancouver-based Nettwerk Music Group has taken up the cause of David Greubel and his family, who are being sued by the RIAA for songs they had indirectly offered through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program installed on their computer. Although the Greubels’ computer had more than 600 songs available, the RIAA is seeking damages totaling US$9,000 for the distribution of nine specific songs, including Lavigne’s hit "Sk8er Boi."

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For years the debate has gone on about which Game Engine is Superior to all others. Well these days it’s getting more competitive out there with many talented programmers surprising us with each new Game release. However, out of the 2 top Original players that being Unreal and Doom, times have changed and no longer being the first matters. It’s now show us who has the better Engine or get lost. Well years have past and still the only Game engine to Flex it’s muscles and show it’s still the top dog is not the Doom Engine but instead it’s the now infamous Unreal Engine. Not only is it a great Game Engine but it is also being used for other applications. For example; Architects are using it to design unique Buildings and some Movie Directors like Steven Spielberg are using it to render movie scenes prior to filming them. Not bad for a game engine. Not even the Doom Engine has reached that level. Sorry Fan boys this is based on Technological facts and not on which is better Horror or SCIFI. It’s more about how versatile and powerful the engine is at producing a great user experience. Even Carmack will hesitantly admit that Unreal Tournament for example, killed the whole Quake online multiplayer experience in one large swoop and till this day remains the best fast paced multiplayer game in the industry. So instead on rambling on let the video and pictures speak for its self.

Check it out –>  Unreal Engine 3  Unreal Tournament 2007  Gears of War 

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By John Houlihan Wednesday 25th January 2006

John Carmack, id’s engine genius, part-time rocketeer and the man behind the original Doom and Quake engines, has revealed in a brand new interview that Xbox 360 will be id’s chosen console platform as the company embraces its next-generation future. It’s a bold statement to make, given id’s almost exclusive PC development history (although recent forays have included Doom RPG for mobile and Quake IV on 360) but Carmack told PC Gamer UK that the 360 is a ‘really sweet development system’ and that it will be his main ‘target’ for future id games. So could id commit the ultimate PC heresy and switch to Xbox 360 as its primary development platform? Well not quite yet, but it’s a distinct possibility as Carmack notes, “It probably will be. All of our tools are on the PC, and we’re maintaining the game running on the PC, but probably all of our gameplay development and testing will be done on the Xbox 360.”

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By Reuters Tue Jan 24, 2006

The video game industry’s 2006 E3Expo trade show in Los Angeles is getting a make-over — banned are the swarms of sexy, semi-clad “booth babes” that in years past took the unveiling of new games and technology to titillating new levels. Rules prohibiting the use of scantily clad young women to peddle video games are nothing new, but the handbook for this year’s show in May outlines tough new penalties, including a $5,000 fine on the spot for the booth owner if the “booth babe” is semi-clad.

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Even as 2005 saw record figures for console game sales, PC software sales cowered under $1 billion. According to NPD figures reported by The Associated Press today, PC game sales dropped 14 percent to $953 million, compared to $1.1 billion in 2004. The NPD figures, however, only track sales of PC games on CD-ROM — meaning digital download sales, as well as MMO subscription spending, aren’t reflected in the numbers. The NPD points to the growth of both digital sales and online game subscriptions in explaining the apparent PC gaming slump.

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Rock Stars and Modern Artists join forces for an amazing art exhibit in remembrance of Dimebag Darrell Abbott and to support music education.     

SIX-STRING MASTERPIECES: THE DIMEBAG DARRELL ART TRIBUTE  is:     

• A collection of 50 guitars, HAND-PAINTED by world-famous Rock Stars and internationally known Modern Artists.

• A Charitable Art Auction to benefit a Foundation dedicated to music, education and improving the lives of today’s youth.

• A travelling Entertainment Attraction hitting major US markets in 2006.

• A highly-publicized tour that will feature an Art Opening Party and VIP Reception in each city attended by participating artists, press, celebrities and entertainment industry personel.

• A great PR and human interest story.

• Check out story Here.  

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Whoo Hoo! New Year – New Section for our visitors to enjoy! Here we will post Gaming and Music news for starters. Why? Simple, we here at Curse The Hype have other interest as do our readers. So we decided to add this WEBlog to address topics other than Tech. Hope you all will enjoy!.

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